Rhode
Island has a couple of solid scorers in guard Jimmy Baron and forward Will
Daniels. Baron, the coach’s son, spends most of his time on the perimeter. He
knocks down over three shots per game from beyond the arc and averages 14.3
points per game. He is getting a little better at mixing up his game and getting
to the basket, but there is still room to improve in that department.

Up
front Will Daniels will do a majority of the scoring. The 6-8, 225 pound forward
will play facing the basket most of the time and he can step outside and hit the
long ball relatively consistently. Daniels averages nearly 19 points per game
and can score a lot of buckets in a hurry. The rest of the frontcourt might not
be as explosive as Daniels, but Kahiem Seawright, Keith Cothran, Lamonte Ulmer
and Joe Mbang have the ability to hit double digits in the scoring department on
any given night.

Why
They Can Disappoint:

With a
high scoring offense comes turnover problems and the Rams commit about 14 a
game. That is not horrible, but Rhode Island will have to try and keep that
number down as much as possible if they want to make a run in the tournament.
They will also need to take advantage of every opportunity they have and that
includes hitting free-throws. The team shoots under 70 percent from the charity
stripe. Baron is great from the line and hits over 91 percent of his attempts,
but the entire group of forwards are in the 60 percent range and that might not
be good enough in March.

Who
To Watch:

Parfait Bitee is in charge of keeping the up-tempo offense under control. He
averages 4.8 assists per game and just 2.4 turnovers. That is not bad at all
considering how fast the Rams run their offense. Bitee is not a pure distributor
however and he will hit the outside shot with amazing consistency. Bitee hits
two long balls per game and shoots over 51 percent from beyond the arc. That
would rank among the best in the nation if he took a few more attempts.

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About Joel Welser

ColumnistCollege Preview Editor

Contactjwelser@collegehoops.net

Background

"Joel Welser does a tremendous job covering college basketball. He gives his readers knowledgeable and insightful information on college hoops." -Ernie Zeigler, Head Basketball Coach, Central Michigan University "Joel Welser writes clean, knowledgeable copy that always hits deadline." -Greg Eno, former editor-in-chief, Motor City Sports Magazine Growing up in Michigan, Joel Welser inherited a love for Big Ten sports. After defying all family traditions and not going to Michigan State, Joel headed out west to earn his bachelor degree from California State University, Northridge in Cinema Television Arts, specializing in screenwriting. For reasons still unknown, after his stint in Hollywood, Joel headed back to Michigan where he remains to this day complaining about the cold. Joel has found a successful formula with the popular top 144 series at collegehoops.net and has also written college football and college basketball previews and articles for various websites and magazines.